The Best Laid Plans

As I said, the power did in fact go out the day we thought it would. It was off for 48 hours, but seemed like 4 or 5 days! Sam didn't like the beginning of "Sorcerer's Apprentice" -- a little too creepy for her.


Thankfully, the house held heat pretty well the first night. We lit a fire first thing in the morning. I was near tears when I realized the coffee maker used more wattage than the converter would power. (Yes, it's an addiction and I should work on that someday.)

Also realized, a little too late, that the side burner I intended to use on the grill wasn't working! Ugh. We were glad for the fire to heat the beans and cornbread for supper and for the warmth of a friend's home for a couple of hours that evening. Unfortunately, we let our fire go out and house temp dropped pretty fast on the second night. Other sweet friends offered their generator and again realized we needed a lesson in wattage and amps and electricity and such! We couldn't get it to run our space heaters sufficiently, so we all slept together to stay warm. Well, except for Grandaddy. He was in many, many layers (including the long johns) and lots of blankets on his own.

The kids slept in their stocking caps all night.


We woke up on Day 2 to 41 degrees. I wore my winter coat all day and kept Grandaddy in his coat and a stocking cap. The kids, on the other hand, never once complained of being cold despite their red noses. We all moved to the living room and kitchen, shutting off all the other rooms. We stayed in one spot where the space heater and fire combined to get us to a scorching 58 by the time Brian came home from work.

We never had to use the water in the tub and the food turned out to be the least of the troubles. I found it most difficult to live in the mess I'd let my kids create to entertain themselves. We still did school and lots of reading. You'll see they made a restaurant in the kitchen under the table -- we ate on pillows Turkish-style while Chase and Ava sang "Here Comes the Sun" as the live entertainment. (Someday I'll post about how I made the cover for the fort -- soooooo easy to make one to fit whatever size table you have!)



Nearing the end of daylight hours on Day 2, the kids were a little tired of all the closeness. I set up three play centers: in the teepee, on a pile of sleeping bags in the hall and under the table. In each I put some sort of game they could play on their own like Perfection or magnetic shapes or chalkboard and chalk. I'd set the timer for 10 minutes and told them when to rotate and then we'd put in new games and start over. That might have been the most peaceful time of all! I'm going to start incorporating that into our school day!

Probably what I liked best was working on this 3D puzzle of the Titanic that we've had for years and never attempted. It was the perfect time and we did it!

Believe it or not, we were thankful for the reminder of all the things we take for granted: warmth at the touch of a button, hot water at the flip of wrist, and hot meals whenever we want them. And, we tried to make the best of the situation without complaining -- pert near a miracle in itself, if you ask me. Even Grandaddy said he enjoyed sitting out with us and watching the kids play. Maybe it was just what we needed to shake things up a bit.

Please, no more shaking for a while.